Alex Salmond offered new date to give evidence at Holyrood
It looks like Alex Salmond will finally give evidence later this week.
It's looking like Alex Salmond will finally give evidence to a Holyrood inquiry later this week.
The committee investigating how the Scottish Government handled harassment complaints has invited the former First Minister to appear on Friday.
It comes as MSPs quiz the Lord Advocate on why the Crown Office intervened after the publication of Alex Salmond’s written submission on the Ministerial Code which then had to be redacted.
Mr Salmond's legal team said it was "clearly impossible" for him to give evidence under oath in the circumstances and offered to postpone his appearance until Friday.
A meeting of the cross-party committee agreed it still wants to hear evidence from Mr Salmond, who was awarded a £512,250 payout after the Scottish Government's investigation of him was ruled to be "tainted by apparent bias".
The MSPs have now invited him to appear in person on Friday.
Lord Advocate James Wolffe is then scheduled to reappear before the committee next week, and current First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will then make her appearance on Wednesday.
A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said: "There was unanimous agreement in the committee that it wants to hear from Alex Salmond.
"His evidence has always been an important part of the committee's work and as such the committee agreed that it would invite Mr Salmond to give evidence in person on Friday.
"The First Minister will then give evidence as the final witness to the inquiry on Wednesday.
"The committee remains determined to complete its task set by the Parliament and today agreed further actions in order to help them complete this work."